Ernest Doudart de Lagrée, from Voyage d'exploration en Indo-Chine

Ernest Marc Louis de Gonzague Doudart de Lagrée (March 31, 1823 - March 12, 1868) was the leader of the French Mekong Expedition of 1866-1968. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining, as the final day of March. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). ... 1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1866 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

He was born in Saint-Vincent-de-Mercuze near Grenoble, France, and graduated from the École Polytechnique. He joined the navy and served in the Crimean War, then took up a post in Indochina in the hope that the climate would help his chronically ulcerated throat. It did not, and throughout the Mekong expedition he was often in severe pain. View of Grenoble, 2002, with the snowy peaks of the Dauphiné Alps Location within France Grenoble ( Occitan: Grasanòbol) is a city and commune in south-east France, situated at the foot of the Alps, at the confluence of the Drac into the Isère River. ... The cadets of Polytechnique rushed to the defense of Paris against the foreign armies in 1814. ... The Crimean War lasted from 28 March 1854 to 1856. ... Indochina, or French Indochina, was a federation of French colonies and protectorates in south-east Asia, part of the French colonial empire. ... An ulcer (from Latin ulcus) is an open sore of the skin, eyes or mucous membrane, often caused by an initial abrasion and generally maintained by an inflammation and/or an infection. ... View of the Mekong before the sunset The Mekong is one of the worlds major rivers. ...

The expedition left Saigon on June 5, 1866. In addition to his ulcers, Doudart de Lagrée suffered from fever, amoebic dysentry and infected wounds caused by leeches, as the expeditioners had to walk barefoot once they had worn out their supply of shoes. By the time the expedition reached Dongchuan, in Yunnan, China, he was too sick to be moved, and his second-in-command Francis Garnier took command. Garnier led the expedition to Dali, leaving Doudart de Lagrée in the care of the doctor. He died from an abscess on his liver. The doctor removed his heart to return it to France, while Doudart de Lagrée was buried in Dongchuan. Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam and, as Saigon (Vietnamese: Sài Gòn), was the capital of South Vietnam from 1954 to 1976. ... June 5 is the 156th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (157th in leap years), with 209 days remaining. ... Fever is also the name of an album by Kylie Minogue. ... Dysentery is a severe diarrhea illness often associated with blood in the feces. ... Orders Arhynchobdellida Rhynchobdellida *There is some dispute as to whether Hirudinea should be a class itself, or a subclass of the Clitellata. ... Yunnan (Simplified Chinese: 云南; Traditional Chinese: 雲南; pinyin: Yúnnán) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the far southwestern corner of the country. ... Francis Garnier on a 1943 stamp of Indochina Marie Joseph François (Francis) Garnier (25 July 1839 - 21 December 1873) was a French officer and explorer known for his exploration of the Mekong River in Southeast Asia. ... Salvador Dalí as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten Salvador Domenec Felip Jacint Dalí Domenech (May 11, 1904 - January 23, 1989) was an important Catalan-Spanish painter, best known for his surrealist works. ...